Best AI Sales Agents for Shopify (2026): Astra vs Rep AI vs Relish AI vs Zipchat

The best AI chatbot for Shopify depends on where your shoppers talk and what you need the agent to do. If most conversations happen on WhatsApp, Astra AI Agent from Wati is built for that.

If you want a sales assistant that reads your catalog on your storefront, Rep AI and Relish AI are Shopify-focused options. Zipchat covers the storefront plus WhatsApp and other channels.

There's no single winner. Each tool takes a different approach to selling, prices its service differently, and suits a different kind of store.

This guide explains how we compared the four tools, puts them side by side, and gives each a fair, sourced review. You'll also find a guide to choosing between website chat and WhatsApp-first selling and an explainer on pricing. We close with a test plan and the questions to ask any vendor.

How Did We Compare These AI Sales Agents?

We compared Astra, Rep AI, Relish AI, and Zipchat on seven criteria that matter most to Shopify merchants:

• Channels: where the agent can talk to shoppers, such as the storefront, WhatsApp, Instagram, or email.
• Selling features: product recommendations, cart recovery, and proactive engagement.
• Shopify connection: how deeply the tool uses your catalog, orders, and store events.
• Handoff and team tools: how conversations move to a person, and what your team works in.
• Languages: how well the agent serves shoppers in different markets.
• Pricing model: what you're billed for, such as visitors, replies, or a flat plan.
• Setup: how quickly a store can go live.

Every competitor detail comes from that company's own website or Shopify App Store listing, checked in October 2026. Features and prices change often, so confirm them before you buy.

Disclosure: Wati owns Astra AI Agent. We've aimed to describe each tool fairly, including where Astra isn't the strongest fit today.

How Do the Best AI Chatbots for Shopify Compare?

Here's how Astra, Rep AI, Relish AI, and Zipchat compare at a glance.

The pattern is clear. Rep AI, Relish AI, and Zipchat lead on catalog-driven recommendations inside storefront chat. Astra leads on WhatsApp-first selling with a full team workspace and campaigns around it.

Which AI Sales Agent Is Best for Your Shopify Store?

Each tool below follows the same format, so you can compare them directly.

Astra AI Agent (Wati)

What it is: Astra is Wati's customer-facing AI agent. It holds conversations with shoppers on WhatsApp and website chat, answers questions using your website, product pages, and FAQs, and hands conversations to your team when they need a person.

Best for: Shopify stores whose customers prefer to message on WhatsApp, especially in India, the Middle East, Latin America, and Southeast Asia. It also suits teams that want AI and people working from one inbox.

Key selling features:

• Answers product, sizing, shipping, and policy questions instantly on WhatsApp
• Scores each lead's intent, so sales reps see hot leads first
• Hands conversations to your team with full context in the shared Team Inbox
• Works alongside Wati's Shopify integration, which sends cart reminders, order updates, and COD verification as automated templates
• WhatsApp Catalog lets shoppers browse in the chat and check out through a payment link, or WhatsApp Pay in supported markets
• Click-to-WhatsApp ads, segmented campaigns, and retargeting bring shoppers into the conversation

Limitations: Astra recommends products from your knowledge sources, not directly from your live Shopify catalog. It doesn’t build carts in the chat yet, and for orders it can share only the latest order number and tracking link saved on the shopper’s contact. Instagram DMs are handled by your team in the Wati inbox rather than by Astra.

Who should pick it: Stores where WhatsApp is a main sales channel, and teams that want AI, support, and marketing in one platform.

Rep AI

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What it is: Rep AI is an AI sales and support concierge built for Shopify brands. It engages shoppers on the storefront based on their behavior, such as hesitation or exit intent, rather than waiting for them to start a chat.

Best for: Shopify stores with steady storefront traffic that want proactive sales chat.

Key selling features:

• Behavior-triggered engagement on the storefront
• Product recommendations and "frequently bought together" upsells
• Abandoned cart rescue
• Separate AI sales and AI support plans, or a bundle of both

Pricing model: According to Rep AI's pricing information, plans are based on your store's monthly site sessions and catalog size. The entry pay-as-you-grow plan is billed per 1,000 visitors, and higher plans have a fixed price with a traffic limit. All plans include a 30-day free trial. Paid plans include a 30-day free trial.

Limitations: Rep AI is built for Shopify, so it doesn't suit stores on other platforms. Because pricing follows site traffic, costs rise as your sessions grow, even if chat volume doesn't.

Who should pick it: Shopify stores that want an always-on storefront sales assistant and can budget around traffic-based pricing.

Relish AI

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What it is: Relish AI is a Shopify app for AI-powered sales and support chat. Its Shopify App Store listing describes a ChatGPT-powered assistant that answers questions, recommends products, tracks orders, and runs sales campaigns.

Best for: Smaller Shopify stores that want to start with a free plan and add a storefront chatbot quickly.

Key selling features:

• AI product recommendations
• Order tracking and order automation
• Nudge, exit-intent, and personalized chat campaigns
• Abandoned cart recovery
• Integrations with Shopify Inbox, Gorgias, Zendesk, Recharge, and Klaviyo

Pricing model: Its App Store page shows a free plan with a limited number of AI responses and products, plus a 14-day free trial on paid plans. Paid plans scale with your store's needs; check the listing for current tiers.

Limitations: Relish AI is designed around Shopify storefronts. If you sell mainly through messaging apps like WhatsApp, confirm channel support before you choose it.

Who should pick it: Smaller Shopify stores testing AI sales chat on a budget.

Zipchat

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What it is: Zipchat is an AI agent for ecommerce sales and support. According to its pricing page, it runs on the storefront and can extend to WhatsApp, Instagram DMs, Facebook Messenger, and email, using your catalog and store content.

Best for: Stores that want one AI agent across several channels and prefer paying per AI reply rather than per visitor.

Key selling features:

• Product search and recommendations from your catalog
• WhatsApp cart recovery and campaigns Growth plan and above
• Support for Shopify, WooCommerce, Magento, and Wix
• Integrations with helpdesks such as Gorgias and Zendesk

Pricing model: Plans start at $49 a month for the Starter plan, which includes up to 500 AI replies. Every plan includes a 7-day trial and a 30-day money-back guarantee. WhatsApp messages also carry Meta's own per-message fees.

Limitations: Pricing is tied to AI reply volume, so busy months cost more. Stores that need a shared inbox for a larger support team may still pair it with a separate helpdesk.

Who should pick it: Stores that want a multichannel AI agent with predictable entry pricing.

How Do Rep AI and Zipchat Compare Head to Head?

Rep AI and Zipchat are the two tools merchants compare most often, and they take different approaches.

• Where they work: Rep AI focuses on the Shopify storefront. Zipchat works on the storefront and extends to WhatsApp, Instagram, Messenger, and email, across several ecommerce platforms.
• How they engage: Both can start conversations from shopper behavior. Rep AI is built around it, while Zipchat adds the same triggers to an agent that also runs on WhatsApp, Instagram, and email.
• How they charge: Rep AI's price follows your store traffic and catalog. Zipchat prices by AI replies, so cost follows chat volume.
• Who they suit: Rep AI fits Shopify stores focused on storefront conversion. Zipchat fits stores that want one agent on several channels.

Neither is better in every case. For background on how these assistants understand what shoppers ask, see our guide to conversational AI product search. A store with high traffic but few chats may find per-reply pricing cheaper, while a store with steady chat volume may prefer a predictable traffic-based plan. Run your own numbers before deciding.

Do You Need Website Chat or WhatsApp-First Selling?

You need website chat if most shoppers browse and decide on your storefront, and WhatsApp-first selling if they prefer to message you. Many stores need both.

If you use both, keep one rule: shoppers shouldn't have to repeat themselves when they switch channels. Our complete WhatsApp for Shopify guide covers how stores add WhatsApp alongside their storefront. A shared inbox and consistent answers across channels matter as much as the AI itself.

How is AI Sales Agent Pricing Structured?

AI sales agent pricing usually follows one of three models:

• Per visitor or session: you pay based on store traffic, whether or not shoppers chat. Easy to predict from your traffic, but costs rise with every visitor.
• Per AI reply or conversation: you pay for the conversations the AI actually has. Cheaper at low chat volume, but busy months cost more.
• Flat plan plus usage: a monthly platform fee, sometimes with separate AI pricing and per-message charges.

On WhatsApp, there's one more cost to plan for. Meta charges per-message fees for some message types, such as marketing templates, on top of any tool's subscription.

To compare fairly, estimate your monthly cost with your own numbers: monthly sessions, expected chats, and how many WhatsApp marketing messages you'll send. Then ask each vendor for a quote at that volume.

Here's an illustrative example. A store with 60,000 monthly sessions might see 1,200 chats a month, or 2% of sessions. Under traffic-based pricing, it pays for all 60,000 sessions.

Under reply-based pricing, it pays for the replies in those 1,200 chats. Which model costs less depends on how chatty your shoppers are, so run both calculations before you choose. You can review Wati's plans on the pricing page.

How Do You Test an AI Sales Agent Before Committing?

Most of these tools offer a free trial, so use it as a real test, not a demo. Here's a simple plan.

Pick one goal. For example, more orders from chat, a higher average order value, or fewer unanswered pre-sale questions.

Load real content. Add your current policies, product details, and top 20 customer questions before you switch the agent on.

Test with messy questions. Use typos, mixed questions, and unusual requests from your own chat history.

Measure for two to four weeks. Track conversation-to-order rate, average order value from chat, handoff rate, and customer satisfaction.

Review conversations weekly. Look for wrong answers, missed handoffs, and questions the agent couldn't answer.

At the end, compare results against your starting numbers, not against the vendor's case studies.

What Should You Ask Before Choosing an AI Sales Agent?

Ask every vendor these questions before you commit:

1. What's live today, and what's on the roadmap? Demos sometimes show features that aren't released yet.
2. Which channels does the AI itself reply on? Some tools reply on the storefront but leave messaging apps to your team.
3. Can it read my live catalog, or does it answer from content I upload?
4. How does handoff work? Who picks up the chat, and what context do they see?
5. What will I pay at my volume? Include overages and WhatsApp message fees.
6. Which languages does it support well?
7. How does it handle consent and data? Especially for WhatsApp marketing messages.

For a deeper look at running AI support alongside sales, see our guide to Shopify AI customer service.

How Does Wati Help Shopify Stores Sell on WhatsApp?

Wati is an agentic customer engagement platform that turns conversations into revenue growth across marketing, sales, and support. For Shopify stores, it brings AI selling, your team, and your campaigns together on WhatsApp.

Astra AI Agent handles shopper questions on WhatsApp and website chat and passes hot leads to your team in the Team Inbox.

Your team also replies to Instagram and Messenger from there. Shopify-triggered templates keep buyers informed after checkout, and WhatsApp Catalog lets shoppers pick products in the chat.

Click-to-WhatsApp ads bring new shoppers into the conversation, and segmented campaigns bring past buyers back. For the full picture of AI selling on Shopify, see our guide to Shopify AI sales agents, or explore Wati for e-commerce.

Choose the Agent That Matches Your Channels

Pick a website-first agent if your shoppers decide on your storefront, and a WhatsApp-first agent if they decide in conversation. If WhatsApp is where your customers talk, Astra AI Agent and Wati bring AI, your team, and your campaigns into one place.

Ready to sell on WhatsApp? Start your free Wati trial or book a demo.